Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Shares Up 4.6% on Strong Earnings

Key Points

• Shares of Halliburton rose by 4.6% after the company reported quarterly earnings of $0.58 EPS, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.50.
• Halliburton also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, which contributes to an annual yield of 2.6%.
• Major analysts are mostly bullish on Halliburton, with a consensus price target of $31.00 and many maintaining Buy ratings.

Shares of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL - Get Free Report) shot up 4.6% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $26.64 and last traded at $26.39. 8,657,263 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 13,643,216 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.24.

The oilfield services company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. Halliburton had a net margin of 8.37% and a return on equity of 21.45%. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Halliburton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Halliburton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on HAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Halliburton from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Melius started coverage on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. UBS Group set a $24.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Halliburton from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $27.00 price target on shares of Halliburton in a report on Wednesday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Institutional Trading of Halliburton

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAL. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Halliburton by 450.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,941,771 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $759,623,000 after buying an additional 24,506,472 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the second quarter worth about $109,379,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 85.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610,870 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $175,490,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969,759 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Halliburton by 762.7% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,265,132 shares of the oilfield services company's stock worth $66,543,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the first quarter worth about $72,637,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the company's stock.

Halliburton Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $22.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.70.

Halliburton Company Profile

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.

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